Special cases
Hoarding Disorder (Messie-Syndrom)
Also known as: Pathological hoarding · Messie-Syndrom · Hoarder apartment Zurich · Compulsive hoarding
Hoarding disorder — called «Messie-Syndrom» in Switzerland — is a recognized mental health condition in which a person accumulates possessions and cannot part with them. Clearing the home without accompanying support almost always leads to a relapse within months, which is why the resident is involved in the decisions wherever possible.
What is actually going on
Pathological hoarding has been classified as a disorder in its own right since 2013. People affected experience genuine distress and fear of loss when they throw something away. It is not laziness or untidiness, but an illness that is frequently linked to depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder or the aftermath of trauma.
There is usually a trigger: a death in the family, a separation, a notice of termination, an illness. The accumulation starts gradually and becomes normality over years, while the person withdraws socially — often out of shame about the state of the apartment.
Why clearing alone does not help
A clearance removes the symptom, not the cause. Without accompanying therapeutic support, experience shows the apartment fills up again within months. Studies on relapse rates after purely enforced clearances show very high figures.
A markedly better approach involves the resident: they decide which rooms are cleared in which order, what stays and at what pace the work happens. It takes longer and demands more of everyone involved — but it is far more likely to last.
How we handle it
We work without judgment and without pressure. If the resident is present and wants a say, we follow their lead. We ask before throwing away anything that might be personal. And we do not discuss the state of the apartment — not with neighbors, not in the stairwell.
Where it is appropriate, we point to counseling services. The decision to accept help rests with the person affected; it cannot be forced on anyone.
What this means if you are dealing with it from abroad
Relatives abroad often only learn about the situation when the property management (Verwaltung, the company administering the building on the landlord's behalf) threatens to terminate the tenancy. In that position you cannot make decisions over the resident's head as long as they are the tenant and legally capable — you can organize the clearance, the appointment and the funding, but not the consent.
What does help from a distance: a viewing appointment on site with photos and a written quote, a realistic schedule with several short days instead of one long one, and a single point of contact who deals with the property management so the resident is not put under additional pressure.
A real case
An apartment in Opfikon is cleared at the resident's request after the property management threatened to terminate the tenancy. The resident is present and decides room by room. We work three half-days instead of one full day so that she can take breaks. Boxes containing photographs and letters stay unopened and are sorted into a single crate. The apartment is cleared, the termination is averted, and the resident makes contact with a counseling service.
Services that cover this
Frequently asked questions about Hoarding Disorder (Messie-Syndrom)
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